Predoctoral Research Assistant — Finance & Economic Data

Texas A&M University; College Station (TX); On-site; USD 42,000 - 51,000; Full time

Job summary

Texas A&M University invites applications for a Predoctoral Research Assistant in the Finance department to support an 11-month research project on federal R&D tax policy. The role involves building a narrative dataset, verifying records against primary sources, and collaborating with the PI and co-lead to interpret policy changes.

The ideal candidate is an aspiring PhD student with strong writing, research, and data skills, capable of handling primary sources and managing complex data;

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in economics or finance completed by the start date.
• No prior experience required.
• Programming and data management skills in Stata, Python, R, SAS, or MATLAB.

Responsibilities

• Narrative Dataset Construction.
• Fact-check and verify a narrative record of postwar federal R&D tax policy changes against primary sources, including congressional committee reports, hearing transcripts, Joint Committee on Taxation documents, Treasury materials, and presidential statements.
• Conduct archival and legislative research, and incorporate evidence from congressional hearings and JCT revenue estimates into the narrative record.
• Help adjudicate the classification of each policy change as exogenous or endogenous to short-run macroeconomic conditions, working jointly with the Principal Investigator and Co-Project Lead.
• Assemble and maintain the supporting data series, and document all sources and coding decisions so the dataset is replicable.
• Writing and Analysis: Rewrite narrative entries in clear, consistent prose.
• Assist with drafting the introduction and methodology sections of the working paper.
• Conduct targeted literature reviews and summarize related work.
• Prepare tables, figures, and appendix material documenting the narrative record.
• Support faculty with short-term research-related tasks such as data retrieval and literature reviews.

Education

Bachelor's degree in economics or finance

Tools

Stata

Python

R

SAS

MATLAB

Job description

Texas A&M University invites applications for a Predoctoral Research Assistant in the Finance department to support an 11-month research project on federal R&D tax policy. The role involves building a narrative dataset, verifying records against primary sources, and collaborating with the PI and co-lead to interpret policy changes.

The ideal candidate is an aspiring PhD student with strong writing, research, and data skills, capable of handling primary sources and managing complex data;